1991 windshield washer motor not working | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1991 windshield washer motor not working

iowafarmboy

Member
Joined
January 18, 2010
Messages
13
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1
City, State
le Mars, IA
Year, Model & Trim Level
1991 short box
I just bought this old girl. Runs like a top but the windshield washer motor doesn't work. Pulled the plug and checked the voltage and it was only about 4 volts. What;s with that? I was going to put 12 volts to the motor to see if it was any good, nut decided I'd check with you people first. Is that the correct voltage? The pins looked clean and they fit snug. It makes no noise at all.

In my 62 years I've never replaced a washer motor. Do I have to drain the reservoir before taking the motor out. I've seen the motors and they are pretty small. Anyone out there with some advice?
 






I can now answer my own question. I looked up the basic advice on autozone.com. They had pretty good directions and diagrams. The windshield washer fluid / radiator overflow tank is a one piece white plastic tank attached to the left (driver's side) fender well, as far forward as you can go. The screws that hold them in are 8mm. I used a long extension and a ratchet.

Before doing anything you need something to drain the two types of fluid out of each tank. When you pull either hose off the fluid starts draining right away. Once that is done disconnect the two prong plug in the end of the windshield washer motor. It has two very small catches. I used a small nail in each, then pressed them together like a scissors and it came right off.

The two screws that hold it to the fender are easy to get to and it came right off. The motor is held in with a washer type arrangement. I just took a small screw driver and pried it off and threw it away. It takes quite a bit of force to pull the old motor out. The other end is a rubber seal that's pressed in tightly.

When the motor is out I cleaned the area out very well. When I pushed the new motor in, the rubber seal on the other end makes it necessary to use a lot of force to seat it. If I had a thin walled one inch socket it would have been perfect. I didn't have one so I made do with a screw driver. I put the new star - washer on top and used a flat screw driver to press it down tightly to keep the motor seated.

I had already tried the motor for an instant, so I knew it was OK. I put everything back the way I took it off, reconnected the hoses, filled each reservoir with the correct fluid, and plugged the motor back in. I turned the key on, pushed in on the end of the turn signal and fluid sprayed on the windshield and the wipers worked too. Job done. Maybe 15 - 20 minutes... outside in the driveway in the snow and cold. Probably a lot quicker in a nice heated garage with tools right there.
 






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